Back in Business
Chapter 4
Author's Note: No, I'm not dead, I'm still here and well, trying to finish this and my other fics while keeping up with life. Please let me know if you are reading and/or enjoying this fic, by reviewing it. And I'm also doing my best to make this story more believable, while trying not to write in a cringe-inducing way. And if anything I wrote sounds wrong or weird, tell me and I shall edit it.
Disclaimer: Ella belongs to me. Tonypridd belongs to me as well and is (As far as I know) fictional. It too is a portmanteau of Pontypridd and Tonypandy, by the way. Fireman Sam and all related characters, as well as Pontypandy, belong to HiT, Prism Entertainment, S4C and all that jazz.
Sam and Elvis rode back to the fire station in good spirits. "Well, Sam, I guess Norman Price will be having nothing but bread for a while, haha!" Elvis laughed.
"You got that right, Elvis!" Sam chuckled. "But I can't wait to get back to our CPR course back in the station! What about you?"
It's a good thing Sam was driving Jupiter at that moment, because Elvis' face turned pale and he screamed in horror. Sam slammed the brakes, narrowly avoiding Mike Flood's van as it passed around the corner. Sam shouted an apology at Mike, then turned to Elvis, seeing the worry in his face reflected on the latter's, "What is it? What's wrong!"
"I JUST REMEMBERED! MILLIE! TO THE STATION, SAM! STEP ON IT! HURRY, PLEASE!" Elvis shouted and started fidgeting in panic.
Sam rolled his eyes and smiled, knowing Elvis' affinity for practice-dummies, then stepped on it, because he was a good friend, who didn't have the need to judge anyone for anything.
They arrived at the station quickly. As soon as Sam parked it outside next to Venus, Elvis jumped out, hurtled into the garage where Steele, the two rescue ladies and the dummies were waiting and knelt down. He took one look at his notes and tossed them away. Then he cleared the dummy's "airway" by tilting its head back and lifting its chin to check for "breathing patterns" and started practicing his CPR skills with gusto.
"Come on, Millie! Stay with me, please! 1...2...3...4..." He started to press down with the heels of his hands on the dummy's chest, 2 inches for each compression. He kept counting until he had done 30 compressions. "Millie? Are you all right? Millie!"
Sam and the others just looked at the scene in amazement. There was a very odd look on Penny's face though.
Elvis blew twice into the dummy's mouth and repeated the necessary procedures at least four more times, until he finally looked up, satisfaction all over his beaming face, "I think I've really got the hang of it! She'll make it, won't she?"
Penny came up to him and knelt down in front of him, failing to suppress the grin that made its way onto her face, "You mean, HE will live. That was Henry."
"Henry?" Elvis was puzzled, "Who's Henry?"
"H-h-hen-henry's m-m-myy dummy!" Penny started laughing. Sam, Steele and Nurse Flood shared a glance with each other before Steele facepalmed and the other two joined Penny in laughing as well.
In his haste to practice his new lifesaving skills, Elvis had run up to the dummy nearest to him and overlooked the fact that Penny had just backed away from it hastily when he entered the garage. Elvis blushed in shame and looked away, only to notice the real Millie close by. Sure enough, he panicked and demonstrated his newfound skills all over again, until he was satisfied that he had done enough for Helen to verify that she could take it from here with an AED (Automated External Defibrillator).
Helen then demonstrated other kinds of equipment, like endotracheal tubes and laryngeal masks that could help with clearing airways. Then she evaluated the firefighters on the spot, "Well done, everyone! You have all passed with flying colours! Especially Elvis, of course..." She chuckled, making Elvis blush again. The brigade helped put all the equipment back into the ambulance and waved to Nurse Flood as she drove off to Newtown Hospital to return it all back. As Sam and Steele headed upstairs to prepare elevenses, Elvis turned to Penny and said, "Uh, Penny...Sorry I, er, used your dummy and after you had practiced..."
Penny smiled reassuringly and patted his arm, "That's alright, Elvis. Just be more observant next time, OK?"
Elvis laughed humourlessly, but couldn't quite look her in the eye. "Besides," Penny added, thinking fast, "You learnt everything so well! And all that action! You're a lean, mean lifesaving machine!"
This had the desired effect. "Really?" Elvis lifted his head up and smiled, "Wow, thanks! Haha! Wait, I think we've got something there..." And on the way upstairs, he started singing, "Oh, Imma lean, mean lifesaving machine, doobee-doo-doowah-wah yeah..."
The next day was a Sunday. Ella woke up, dressed and worked, then finished at twelve noon precisely. It was a reasonable finishing time for a working Sunday in Pontypandy, she decided. Good timing too, because Mrs Chen entered the cafe with Lily just as Ella was getting the stepladder ready.
"Hello, Mrs Chen! Hi Lily! I'll be along soon!"
"That's all right, Ella, we'll sit and watch, won't we Lily?" Mrs Chen asked her daughter. Lily clapped her hands and said, "Smoke!"
"Yes, Lily, that smoke alarm is for telling us if there is smoke," her mother explained.
Ella climbed up the ladder, unscrewed and replaced the old alarm with her new one, then put the batteries in place.
"There! All done!"
The smoke alarm was finally installed. Mrs Chen and Lily watched as the girl slowly descended down the step-ladder. "But aren't you going to check if it works?" Mrs Chen asked, a look of disapproval appearing on her face, "You should go up that ladder and press the button, you know!"
Ella winced. She had seen that expression on her own mother countless times. But she stood her ground and folded the ladder. "Just you watch me, Mrs C! I've got a neat trick!"
She ran out, returned the ladder to Dilys and came back to the cafe. She took a broom that was propped near the cash register and stood directly under the new smoke alarm. The Chens looked on with surprise as she raised the broom and used the tip of the handle to poke the big red button. The alarm promptly started beeping. Ella then pressed the button again and the alarm fell silent.
"There we are! Now, how long will those exercise sheets take?" Ella asked.
Since it was a Sunday and Mrs Chen was one of the schoolteachers, she needed some time to prepare Maths exercises for the children's homework, for when school started the next day. She then decided to leave Lily in Ella's care for four hours.
When Mrs Chen left, Ella asked Lily, "Now what are we going to do today, hmm?"
They spent three and a half hours playing games and when they got tired, Ella had an idea, "I know, how about we go to the Wholefish Cafe? Let's walk, I don't think my bike would be big enough for the two of us."
As Ella locked the cafe, slung her brown rucksack over her shoulder and walked to the pier hand-in-hand with Lily, there was a different sort of activity going on across the road. Norman had invited Mandy Flood over to help him find the Good Samaritan who had put out the Prices' kitchen fire and together, they were examining the evidence that Norman had managed to find while tidying up the place as further punishment from Dilys.
"Well, what do you think?" Norman asked. Mandy turned the sole evidence of the hero's identity in her hand: A scrap of partially burned paper on which only the words "Sugar, two scoo" could be made out. She scrutinised it briefly before saying, "Well, I've seen your Mam's handwriting and it's all loopy...And your handwriting looks just like Lily's..." She ignored Norman's protest that he had the best handwriting ever and added, "And I know that my parents don't write like that. And this is not Mrs Chen's writing either. This is definitely not Fireman Sam's handwriting, I've seen the autograph he gave James. So..."
"And I've seen how Station Officer Steele writes and that's not how he does it! What if it's written be someone we don't know?"
"Impossible!" Mandy exclaimed, "We know everyone in Pontypandy!"
"Or do we?" Norman asked, a conspiratorial grin forming on his face. "Don't be silly," Mandy chided, "Actually, I had a thought. Let's ask Sarah and James if they think this looks like anything they know."
"Cool! They might be at the Wholefish Cafe now!" Norman replied happily. Then his face fell, "Oh, but Bronwen will be making cake there and she won't let me have any!"
Mandy dragged him to his feet, "Focus, Norman! If we get this mystery solved, I bet Mrs Price will let Ella treat us to a chocolate cake!"
"Oh yeah! A huge chocolate cake with strawberries and cream..." Norman started hallucinating, "And when I catch the Invisible Hero, it'll be all mine!"
"Ahem! You mean ours, Norman?"
"Did I say that out loud? Oops..."
With that, they left the Cut Price store with their evidence and left to find their friends.
The bell above the Wholefish Cafe door rang. Bronwen was at her usual place behind the counter. "Why, hello there, Lily! And hello, Ella, aren't you working today?"
"Closed early for this little darling here," Ella grinned, "Actually, I'm babysitting for Mrs Chen. Can we have a menu please?"
"Over here, dear. Now you sit down here while I get Lily's usual," Bronwen smiled and set the menu down on a table that had a conveniently-placed high-chair for Lily to sit on. After getting themselves settled comfortably, Ella read the menu. As she read it, she was suddenly overwhelmed by memories of sneaking off to Angie Grant's cafe to indulge in Welsh cuisine, whenever Italian food became unbearable, which was almost all the time. Not that she hated to eat Italian all the time, it was in her blood, but as a Welsh-born, she felt much closer to Wales and Her cuisine. Her eyes and mouth began to water as the feeling of finally coming home overwhelmed her. She could almost taste the rarebit, Glamorgan sausage and laverbread on offer...
"El-LA! YAY!"
Lily's joyful shout broke Ella out of her reverie and she shook her head to get it out of the clouds. She focused properly on the menu and grinned. All her favourites were listed on it. It would be a stretch to sample them all. But it wouldn't hurt either...Decisions, decisions...
"So, what will it be, Ella?" Bronwen stood ready with her notebook and pen. "Caws pobi with ale, please!" Ella enthusiastically slammed the menu onto the table, shocking everyone present for a moment.
"Well, er, it will be ready quite soon," Bronwen was taken aback, but pleased nevertheless.
While her order was being prepared, Ella watched over Lily, who was enjoying her apple pie and chocolate milkshake and made sure that she did not spill anything on her lilac overalls. They talked and laughed, or rather, Ella rambled happily about how much she loved Welsh food and Lily laughed at and pointed out how ridiculously happy she looked.
"Here's your rarebit, dear!" Bronwen finally came over to the table and set Ella's order down.
"Diolch! Yummm..." Ella took up her fork and knife and attacked the rarebit with gusto. 'Life is good,' she thought as the bread and cheese melted on her tongue, 'Life is so, so good.'
Norman and Mandy entered the cafe and greeted Bronwen, who called Sarah and James for them. Norman looked around sneakily, then put a finger to his lips and motioned for his friends to go out to the back of the cafe. It was there that Norman and Mandy filled the Jones twins in on the beginning of their investigation.
"Who do you think it is?" Mandy asked. Sarah held the evidence in her hand and James looked at it over her shoulder. "This is not Dad's handwriting."
"Or Mam's..." James said.
"Or Uncle Sam's...Could it be Elvis?"
"No way, I have his autograph!"
"Let's make a list! That way, we'll know about the people..."
"...Whose handwriting styles we haven't seen yet!" James finished happily.
"And we'll know if they were anywhere close to Mrs Price's fire!" Mandy clapped her fist on her palm, "Great thinking, you two! You are ace detectives!"
"But I'm the best detective in Pontypandy EVER!" Norman complained.
Then a shout rang out, "OH NO! LION!"
The children ran out to see what the commotion was all about. Bronwen was outside the cafe, one hand holding a mobile phone and staring in horror at Lion, who had somehow made his way onto the roof of the Ocean Rescue Centre. The twins rushed to their mother's side and started calling out for Lion to come down. Ella came running out of the cafe with Lily in her arms. "Oh dear, I must call Fireman Sam!" cried Bronwen and dialled 999 immediately.
"Don't you mean, call the Fire Brigade?" Ella asked. Bronwen looked at the girl as though she had gone mad. "Of course! It's just that Fireman Sam is always on the front lines in every emergency, so we always say 'Call Fireman Sam' anyway! Uh...yes, Fire Service please..."
Ella just raised an eyebrow at her, before sighing and looking at the rooftop where Lion was relaxing as though he was a sunbathing tourist. Norman then had a silent eureka moment and whispered to Mandy, "Shouldn't the Invisible Hero be here by now?" But although Mandy was listening to him, her attention was elsewhere. She held up a hand to shush Norman and pointed at the road.
Jupiter had arrived bearing Sam and Penny, who was at the wheel. Sam got off and assessed the situation. He saw that Lion was sitting on the roof, between a solar panel and the edge of the rooftop, where if he was not careful, he could fall off. "Penny, we're going to need the turntable ladder for this one! Stabilise Jupiter!"
Just as Penny got off Jupiter and pulled the lever to stabilise Jupiter, Mandy felt a tap on her shoulder. It was James, who whispered, "Look over there! She looks like she saw a ghost!"
James pointed discreetly as Norman and Sarah looked along with Mandy at the person he was referring to. The 'she' in question was not Bronwen (Though she did look scared out of her wits) or Lily, who was thrilled at all the action.
When she heard Sam call out the name 'Penny,' it was as though time had stopped for Ella. A shiver ran down her spine and when she saw Penny's face, her bottom lip trembled slightly. Too many emotions flashed through her mind all at once and she did not know which one to process first. What she did know was that her worst fears were on the way to becoming true.
And then her attention turned to Sam. She watched as he and Penny worked together to bring back down the cat that looked so much like Rosa as the kids cheered and almost at once she got a funny feeling in her heart, as though an ice-cold hand had grabbed it and started squeezing the life out of it. That was when the pain started again.
Only this time, it was stronger than usual. Her entire lower leg and knee throbbed and burned, as though it were the first time it was happening.
Ella stifled a moan through gritted teeth and tried not to buckle under the weight of the little girl she was carrying. 'No,' she thought to herself sternly, 'No! I'm made of better stuff than this! I am a fir...No, I'm not...I'm not..."
"There you go Bronwen! Safe and sound!" Sam's cheerful voice brought Ella back from her thoughts, making her forget the pain for a moment. "Oh Lion, you had me worried!" Bronwen cooed as she took Lion into her arms. Ella, who was standing next to her with Lily, watched Sam smile at his sister-in-law. 'Look at him, smiling like that!' she thought, 'So smug he is, I bet he thinks he's the best firefighter in the world! Wait, what am I thinking?!
'He's only doing his job! But he's so good at it! So good that it makes me want to wipe the smile off his..."
"Kitty!" Lily squeaked happily and tried to grab at the cat. She would have fallen out of Ella's arms if the latter hadn't reacted quickly by taking a small step forward and grasping her around the waist tightly. At the same time, Lion made a dash for freedom into the cafe. However, when Ella moved to grab Lily, all it took was a small step for the pain to come back anew and she stumbled forwards. "A-aie!" she cried out as they both fell.
"Ella!" Sam and Bronwen exclaimed.
Sam caught them and hoisted Lily from Ella's grasp. He handed her to Bronwen and put his hands on Ella's shoulders, helping her stand up.
Ella leaned with her back against the cafe's large window and swept stray hair strands out of her eyes. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply with a hand on her mouth, willing the pain to go away. Sam kept one hand on her elbow and asked worriedly, "Are you all right? You looked like you were in pain just now..."
"I'm fine," Ella ground out, suddenly furious, "D-d-don't look at me like that! I don't need...Just go away!" She shrugged Sam's hand away, collected Lily from Bronwen and stalked off in a huff, as a very confused-looking Lily waved bye at the others. The way Ella walked, or rather limped, did not escape Sam's notice.
Bronwen watched them go, looking just as nonplussed as Lily, "Was it something I said?" Sam mused aloud. "That's some temper," Bronwen shook her head, "What could possibly be wrong?"
Penny had heard Ella's cry of pain just as she was pulling the retracting lever for the ladder. As she turned around, she saw Sam catch a young brunette of about roughly her age. She was quite far away from them to make out the girl's face, but she could tell that she looked angry. She started to walk up to them and as she did, she heard snatches of what the girl was saying.
'That voice sounds familiar,' she thought. 'But where...?'
Just as she came nearer, the young woman huffed and flounced off with Lily in tow. Penny racked her brains as she joined the group outside the cafe. "Are we all set to go then?" she asked Sam. "Uh, yes," Sam replied, "I believe we are. Well, see you later Bronwen. 'Bye kids."
"Bye, Sam! Bye Uncle Sam!" They all called out at once.
Sam and Penny got into Jupiter and as they drove, Sam noticed Penny tapping her chin and frowning, "Something wrong Penny?"
Penny looked up and her frown deepened, "That young lady, Sam. The one who was carrying Lily..."
"You mean Ella? Oh, yes, you haven't met her yet."
"So that was Ella, huh? No, I only saw her today. But...Sam." "Yes?"
"I know today is the first time I've seen her in person. But I can't help thinking I've seen her before." "Oh?"
"And her voice...I feel like I've heard it before. I just can't seem to remember."
Sam said, "I see. Well, maybe I'll be able to introduce you one day. That is, if she's not angry with me."
"Why would she be angry with you?" Penny asked as they got off. "I don't know," Sam replied, "But I do know that there's something wrong with her right leg. Maybe she was disguising pain as anger. All the same..." Before Sam could continue, another emergency call came through on Jupiter's radio.
Ella brought Lily back to the Chen residence and was pressured into having a cup of tea before leaving. She then carried on walking home. But somewhere else in Pontypandy, things weren't going so smoothly.
"HELP! HEEELP!" It was Trevor Evans. He had somehow gotten himself stuck upon a tree in Hibbert Street, trying to retrieve a handkerchief for Dilys like the adorkable sucker that he was. He was now clinging to the trunk with the handkerchief in his hands, eyes squeezed shut and feet firmly on a branch while Dilys shouted, "Don't worry Trevor! Fireman Sam will be here soon!"
"I don't think I can hold on much longer, Dilys!" Trevor cried. "No, Trevor, don't say that! I know you'll be safe soon!"
Trevor just stayed there like a scared koala for what seemed like an eternity until suddenly, something strange happened.
"No! NO! Don't go there, that's har-zar-dious!" Dilys was yelling. Then Trevor heard a light thwack close to him and felt fingers tapping his shoulder gently. The touch felt oddly comforting. That meant Fireman Sam was here at last.
He opened his eyes and found himself face-to-face with...Not Fireman Sam.
Trevor stared in disbelief.
The figure that stood on the flat top of the ladder wore blue trousers and a green hooded poncho. It was hard to tell if it was a man or a woman, especially because they were wearing a makeshift mask made from a white handkerchief, two corners knotted behind each ear, that covered their face. However, Trevor could see their eyes, which were warm, hazel and concerned.
They held out an arm to him and beckoned. Trevor considered it for a second, then asked, "Why would I trust you? You're not a firefighter!" The not-so-Invisible Hero's eyes widened in what looked like hurt at that comment, but beckoned faster to him.
Trevor then made the really stupid decision of looking down and regretted it. He immediately reached out to the Good Samaritan and allowed them to lift him carefully in a Fireman's Lift. He shut his eyes as they made their way down to earth and only opened them when his feet touched the ground.
The Hero pressed Trevor's shoulders lightly and made him sit down on the grass to feel better. Dilys came running up to them and knelt next to Trevor, cooing, "Are you all right, Trevor? Don't worry about my handkerchief, you can keep it and give it to me tomorrow..."
"Uh-huhuh," Trevor laughed weakly as he wiped his brow with said handkerchief. Dilys then rounded on the Hero, "Are you the one that saved my kitchen the other day?" The Hero nodded silently.
"Quiet one, aren't you?" Dilys added. Then they heard Jupiter's siren and the fire engine hurtled into the scene and stopped nearby. Penny and Sam got off from the engine and immediately realised what had happened, when they saw the hooded stranger.
"Hello there!" Penny called out in a friendly tone and walked up to the Invisible Hero. But the newcomer was having none of that. Their eyes narrowed in sudden fear as Penny came closer. The female firefighter barely noticed the hazel shade of the Hero's eyes before the latter bolted off in the direction of Vale Road.
"Hey! Come back! We just want to talk!" Sam yelled, but the stranger had disappeared, "How odd..."
Oh my gosh, I am SO sorry this update is late. But don't worry this is coming along nicely. At least to me...Anyway, I think there'll be at least two more chapters before the story finishes and I hope you're enjoying this so far. And if you find some of the emergencies in Pontypandy ludicrous, then remember that this is a Fireman Sam fic, many of the emergencies are bound to be ludicrous, haha! Also, I'll be going back and making a few edits to the previous chapters every once in a while.